SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites to orbit from California, lands rocket at sea

Liftoff occurred Wednesday (March 26) at 6:11 p.m. ET.

SpaceX launched a stack of Starlink internet satellites to orbit from California and returned the booster to Earth Friday afternoon (March 26).

The Falcon 9 rocket flying the mission, Starlink 11-7, carried a total of 27 satellites to orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California. The SpaceX rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex-4E at 6:11:40 p.m. ET (2211 GMT).

A little more than eight minutes later, the rocket's first-stage booster, B1063, touched down on the SpaceX droneship "Of Course I Still Love You," stationed in the Pacific Ocean. It was the 24th launch and landing for B1063, which has previously flown 15 Starlink missions, including its most recent, a Starlink mission in January.

The Falcon 9 upper stage continued to space to deploy the Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) about 60 minutes after liftoff, as planned. SpaceX announced the successful deployment on X.

Those satellites join a megaconstellation of over 7,100 Starlink satellites in LEO, according to satellite tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell. Together, the globe-wide orbital mesh offers low-latency, high-speed internet to Starlink customers around the planet.

Quelle: SC